Iron
by Yamiro
Summary: Collection of my drabbles written for tumblr's Shakarian Sundays.
1. Chapter 1

Garrus Vakarian felt extremely pleased with himself, which in itself, wasn't that common of an occurrence.

It was hard, coming up with an idea what to buy Shepard - he had never brought a present for a human before. Never felt the need to. But now, now that they were calming down from all that excitement and were together again, no immediate threats on horizon besides the usual ones... well, he did promise to make her living space a little bit more _livable_. Of course, he was a little unsure at the beginning. Knowing his record with her, he was sure he would do something wrong, break some unspoken rule and offend her. There were so many different kinds of offerings for friends, couples, lovers... a multitude of possibilities. Research was one thing, the practical part was _a lot_ more complicated, as seemed to be a rule in their relationship.

But in the end, all that thinking got him on the right path. Or so he hoped.

"You can open your eyes now." he stated when they finally reached her quarters. His first idea was for her to put on a blindfold which he acquired from the _suspiciously_ _over-enthusiastic_ Kelly Chambers (who also took the time to explain some of human gift customs to him), but seeing her smirk at him in that knowing way of hers... he made a wise decision against it (and probably saved his sanity along, too). He could swear she was the most dirty minded woman he had the pleasure of meeting in his entire life and that was something coming from someone who knew Shepard on the most intimate level.

Some of his old associates would be really jealous if they ever met her.

There was a moment of silence as Shepard assessed the room, before her gaze finally turned towards the left side...

"You brought me... _fish_...?" he didn't detect disappointment in her voice, just morbid curiosity "You know, Garrus, when you told me you have a present for me I thought it will be some kind of weapon upgrade or even some secret _secret_ Turian massage technique to get rid of all that tension. _Hell_, I even hoped for a moment that you would _make use_ of that blindfold of yours. But... _fish_, Garrus...?"

"That fish tank couldn't be empty forever, could it?"

"I guess..." he watched as Shepard stepped closer to the fish tank, drumming her fingers against the glass as in deep thought "You are _so_ going to take care of them." she said turning to face him, just in time to see his failed attempts to hide his own amusement. Her eyes widened a fraction as the realization drowned on her and she bursted out in laughter "_**You**_-" she tried to speak, but it seemed quite difficult while trying to subside her humor "so that's your evil plan, huh, Vakarian? Needed an excuse to sneak in the Commanders quarters, did we now?"

"Ah, it seems I was caught." he gave her a Turian version of a grin, noting how her tone gained a playful quality. His visor's readings told him that it wasn't the only thing that changed. Mission _accomplished_.

"Indeed," she smiled, slowly advancing towards him "insubordination... that calls for some _punishment_, don't you agree?"

Step. Step. Step... and then his back met the doors.

"You know... you can come by whenever you want. It's not like we have to keep it secret anymore."

"I know." he spoke, leveling his head to let their foreheads touch. He didn't miss the wicked smile that appeared on Shepard's lips.

"I think I'll hold on to this thing." she sneaked her hand to grab the black material from where he hid it "Maybe it will come in handy... someday... _soon_."


	2. Chapter 2

_She is here again_.

The thought brought him a certain dose of amusement.

Garrus looked up from his datapad, watching as Shepard casually strolled in, greeting some of the refugees she came to know the past few times she came here -

- but despite the innocent appearances, he knew very well what was her true purpose here.

Her eyes met his briefly, lips lifting up a little in a knowing smile, but she ignored him, busy playing pretend until finally coming to stand in front of their main attraction.

The infamous Shepard VI.

This wasn't the first time, _oh Spirits_, if he only knew how this would end up, he would have never come close to the damned thing. Let alone willingly remain in its close proximity.

But as fates wanted it, it became Shepard's favorite past time when they were on the Citadel. It even came with higher priority than meddling in everyone else's business.

He tried to turn his attention back to his datapad, he really did, but it seemed like his concentration turned to mush every time Shepard was in vicinity. There was no use trying to fight it.

With one last forlorn look at the numbers on the screen he let his eyes wander back to her.

.

She was talking to the damn thing **again**.

Her pose was relaxed and for once it seemed that there weren't any burdens on her mind. She looked like she was genuinely enjoying herself and he admitted to himself that he liked to see her in that way, however rare these moments were. There was so much wrong going on with the galaxy right in that very moment, he didn't really have to look far to see it.

The fleeting moments of respite were a distraction that was very much welcome.

… but it didn't change the fact that there were _two ''_Shepards' here now. The VI, a mere amusing copy and the living woman he came to love - the two of them, together like this, were a stain on his sanity.

"Say, Garrus," Shepard spoke after a few minutes and he momentarily knew he was in big trouble "that thing... it doesn't really sound like me, does it?"

And there _it_ was.

The dreaded question he heard her mutter a few times under her breath when she came here before.

It was like a minefield and each answer could trigger an explosion. While his honest opinion was that, indeed, more often than not she sounded far more crazy than this thing, he wasn't particularly eager to part with any of his limbs.

He grew quite attached to them over the course of his life.

"It's just a VI," he spoke, carefully minding his words "it wasn't meant to be a perfect copy."

The galaxy was only big enough for one Shepard, after all.

"But it's based on something, right? It has my personality imprint, even if it's just on the most basic level." he watched Shepard warily as she leaned back, stretching her stiff shoulder. Her hands were nowhere near her concealed weapons, but that really didn't mean much when he knew very well how capable she was in hand-to-hand "I wonder if this is how normal people see me."

He chuckled, finally abandoning the datapad on the nearby crate and coming over to join Shepard where she stood. Just imagining what other people must think about her was enough to make him want to laugh and forget about their problems.

It had to have taken a lot of effort to create the inspiring image the galaxy held of her and shush the more realistic one, he thought. No wonder they had a full blooded journalist on-board.

"You have to admit you're not the most..." he paused searching for a fitting word. He wondered briefly how one was supposed to call a person that enjoyed pushing other people off to death while laughing maniacally or sticking a gun in their faces far more than simply trying to 'keep up with their bullshit' "...sociable person."

That made her turn to face him. If his estimations of human expressions were any good, hers was a cross between amused and offended.

No danger yet.

"But I'm plenty sociable!" she scoffed, crossing her arms "Don't _you _enjoy my company?"

He felt his mandibles twitch at the sight. It was hard to take her seriously when she looked so... very... unthreatening like she did now.

"You asked about _normal_. I'm pretty sure what we usually do together isn't considered normal by any culture." even he still had problems grasping what happened to him around this crazy woman. He found out a long time ago that he didn't mind it at all and just let the craziness pull him along.

"Their loss." Shepard said simply, but there was a smile on her lips that made him feel it had nothing to do with this silly conversation.

He found himself sharing the sentiment.

There was nothing more exciting in the galaxy than following her. Reapers, Geth, Collectors... whatever enemy they faced, he would still gladly follow into the deepest trenches of hell... if it only meant he could stay by her side.

"It is."


	3. Chapter 3

"You're being _very _secretive about that new job of yours, Garrus." Shepard remarked, smiling teasingly as she looked at the holo image of her boyfriend. It wasn't very often that they managed to find themselves awake and free at the same time while being so very far away from each other, but when they did, she couldn't help but feel some of her restlessness disappear.

There wasn't much to do, now that she was stripped of her rank and struck on Earth with none of her usual ways of easing the tension that was building inside her body. Neither really a prisoner, but not a free person either.

Her friends and crew were almost all busy with their own lives, preparing for the oncoming invasion in whatever ways they could - ridding her of even these last pleasures and leaving her bored out of her mind. Light banter with Vega was no substitute for their camaraderie, nor were the somber conversations she had with Anderson. The other Alliance officials on Earth only made her head ache and she suspected that their main purpose was somewhere along the lines of driving her crazy with their bureaucratic bullshit before her trial even begun.

Probably to spare everyone the embarrassment that it would without doubt bring.

Their tactics worked flawlessly so far, as her only rays of sunshine these days were the infrequent calls she got from Garrus, Joker's continued presence and the occasional spar that reassured her that she didn't need to fear for her slowly rusting skills yet.

Kicking someone else's ass always seemed to work great at improving one's self esteem.

"It's nothing interesting yet, just small jobs here and there." the holo image was a little unclear, but she could still see the way he almost seemed sheepish at the topic's turn.

"Ah," her smile widened in a way that she knew send alarms in other people's heads "are you playing vigilante again? Your face is almost healed now, it wouldn't do for you to mess it up again."

"But I thought you enjoyed the scars, Shepard," Garrus replied without missing a beat and brought one of his talons up to start tracing the outline of his bandage in a way that was proving to be quite distracting to her "you _really _seemed to when we last saw each other. I remember quite vividly."

"Do you, now?" she mused, finding it alarmingly difficult to feign disinterest. She made herself more comfortable in her seat and took a deep breath to calm herself. This wasn't the first time they played this _game_, the game to see who could make the other go crazy first - there were only so many things a long distance couple could do - but it was new to see him initiate it. Quite strange to make it affect her so much, too "What else do you recall, I wonder?"

Maybe it really was too long since they last saw each other. Or maybe she was getting old, Shepard wondered, realizing that the thing she wanted to do the most right now was to curl up beside her boyfriend and fall asleep to the feel of his warmth beside her.

The fact remained that she missed him terribly and would have done about anything to cross the distance between them.

"There are some things, Shepard." Garrus' mandibles twitched, but she couldn't quite see the look in his eyes. She cursed the circumstances yet again and forced herself to relax, to enjoy their brief moment together "I wouldn't be too surprised if Wrex makes you a honorary Krogan someday soon."

She blinked, feeling a little surprised. But not disappointed at the turn in conversation.

Never disappointed.

"So, are you saying that I cover all the characteristics of a Krogan female?"

"Oh, _absolutely_." the speakers really didn't do justice to his chuckle. The low rumble she loved to feel against her skin was lost somewhere along the way "But what do you think, maybe I really should get some new ones? Wouldn't want to lose the effect I have on you."

She snorted "Like hell is that even possible, Vakarian. That voice of yours alone gives you an unfair advantage." sometimes Shepard wondered if he even realized how much power he had over her. There was no one else in this whole damn galaxy that could even compare.

"Ah... I'm glad to hear that, Shepard." there was a moment of silence, before Garrus spoke again. This time his voice was rid of some of the previous humor "But tell me, how are things on Earth? Any chance you'll get reinstated soon?"

"Flat chance. They would have to dig themselves from the mountains of paperwork and their bullshit first before they heard anything I have to say." she raked her hand through her hair in frustration.

"I'm sure they'll see reason."

"If only I had your optimism, Vakarian. Right now I think it would take a Reaper dropping on their heads before they see this _reason _of yours."

"Let's just hope it won't come to that."

Later, when both of them were too tired to continue, she lied on her bed staring at the ceiling.

She felt lighter. Just a dose of her Turian friend's charm was enough to accomplish what she herself couldn't.

That night she slept dreamlessly.


	4. Chapter 4

That Commander Shepard lacked proper driving skills was a commonly known fact amongst the _Normandy_'s crew, a true legend almost at par with her dancing skills. It was mostly due to the blood chilling horror stories (backed up with some quite impressive 'battle' scarring) told by the unlucky ones that had the _pleasure_ to experience said skills on their own, figuratively speaking, skin.

/ In fact, one certain Turian vigilante took it upon himself to warn every unknowing member of the team - granted they weren't Cerberus oriented - of the awaiting horrors if the mission required Shepard to drive any kind of a vehicle. At first she thought it kind of funny, but when the trend continued, making almost everyone wary of her in control of the steering, she decided to visit him and defend her driving skills along with her hurting pride.

_Remember that one time, Shepard? That one time you took me and Wrex along on some planet exploration and managed to get MAKO struck in some rubble? We had to waste half a day trying to get it out and then I had to spend a week trying to piece it back together while listening to Wrex's death threats. And defending MAKO from him. Or that other time on Noveria when you almost threw us into a ravine? Or maybe something more recent, like Ilium? Do you really want me to continue, Shepard?_

And so, she made a smart decision, shut up and said _bye bye_ to her pride. /

But the fact that the esteemed Commander couldn't even make a decent meal... well, it wasn't a fact known as well as that.

Elissa Shepard glared at the place usually occupied by Rupert, now empty, thinking that it was probably a way of the universe laughing at her for not having her meals like a decent human being at proper times.

It was very late in the _Normandy_'s night cycle and her stomach decided to remind her that it was hungry.

Quite vocally so.

Her gaze had a calculating edge to it, as it swept over the numerous counters and shelves. Even though she had spent the past few months abroad this reincarnation of _Normandy_, she hadn't had the faintest idea as to where Rupert stored the utensils, even if her cooking skills actually allowed her to use them. Still, she was damn as hell going to settle her hunger.

One way or another.

Determined, in a true _Commander Shepard_ fashion, she 'charged' the offending piece of furniture as if it was her mortal enemy.

Which, considering everything, wasn't that far from truth.

Of course, the more sensible side of her mind reminded her, she could always try and use the synthesizer. The other part momentarily and vocally objected, insisting that synthesized food tasted like ass. That is, if it even had a taste to begin with. She was pretty sure anything she could produce would be way better.

Or at least have some taste, even if it wasn't an entirely pleasant one.

Or it would just blow up on her and there won't be a problem anymore.

Oh, yes. The legendary Commander Shepard, killed in an explosion while trying to make herself a _midnight snack_. She could just imagine Al-Jilani's irritating voice in her head, oh so _sad_ to announce the _devastating_ news of her death.

She bristled and focused back on her very important task.

As she rummaged through the counters, she finally came across something that actually looked edible. A carton of cereal. Now, that couldn't be so hard to make, could it? It even had directions written on it! And a picture of Blasto, the first Hanar Spectre! Her personal favorite hero of them all!

She grinned sillily at the jellyfish before putting the box on the counter, starting to whistle the opening to _Blasto: the Jellyfish Stings_. Next, she made her way towards the fridge, stopping before it, unsure which one was meant for the levo-amino and which for the dextro-amino consuming species. It was not marked in any way, so she decided to challenge her luck and open one of the compartments at random.

She was met by a strange smell, and even stranger looking things. Things that made her feel a little dizzy just by looking at them and probably had the ability to scar her mind if she continued to look at them any second longer.

That _definitely _was not meant for human consumption, she decided wisely.

She closed the door - probably a little too harshly than the situation called for - before anything could jump on her and opened the other section, instantly relieved to see something that wouldn't poison or kill her in an instant. Not that her attempts at cooking when she was younger weren't nearly as effective... but still. She was confident of her abilities. Now. Before she actually tasted it. After... well. That would be later.

(... and after the bizarreness of her youth, she come out with a stomach far stronger than the average person, which actually came in handy when she was still a cadet dependent on military food. Add to this her new Cerberus approved self, and there was no way she could accidentally poison herself...

_...right_?)

That said, she continued her search, coming up with a bottle of honest to God milk. A true rarity, that made her thankful for taking her time to help Rupert with his shopping spree. Shepard could practically _feel_ her chances go up every second.

Now, she just needed a bowl and a pot to heat up the milk. Easy enough.

She filled the bowl with the cereal and the pot with her white goodness, careful not to spill any. Then she turned on the heat. On the maximum settings. Well, she was hungry and never had been a patient woman. There was no time for waiting.

She looked upon her creation feeling accomplished.

It wasn't long before someone interrupted her anxious meditations over the milk.

"EDI told me you're trying to burn the _Normandy_ down..." Garrus' voice commented on her efforts, and she looked up only to find him staring at her quizzically from across the hall. He seemed reluctant to move from his spot.

She tilted her head to the side, wondering what was on his mind when it hit her. She smirked, trying to restrain herself and not to follow with the urge to subject him to his daily dose of torment. That urge seemed to grow on rather rapidly nowadays.

"_Riiight_, this is the first time you see me with my hair down, isn't it?" her hand went to correct the few loose blond strands that had fallen onto her face, noting that Garrus' eyes carefully assessed her movements.

"It does look... _strange_. I didn't think it was that... _long_. You look-" he started, obviously trying hard not to offend her in any way, so, so _sweet_ of him, but the words just didn't seem to come easy "-_different_." he finally decided, but realized that it too could be taken in the wrong way "Not the bad kind of different, of course-"

"Relax, Garrus, no harm done." she smiled shaking her head and motioned him to come closer. Come to think of it, he must have never even touched such a thing before in his life "You can touch it if you want. Hair may have its own life but I guarantee it won't bite you."

"So- it's _alive_?" he asked, looking at her in a funny way, but all the same reached out in curiosity. He ran his talons through her blond strands carefully, trying not to catch any on them.

"Actually it's not, nor is it really that long. The military disapproves of anything longer than chin length, I only get away with this because I keep it out of the way." she paused, tilting her head to give Garrus a better angle "Not that I don't agree... long hair is a nightmare no matter what you do for a living."

And hers was only little over shoulder length.

The _joy_.

"That explains the... bun, is that how you called it?" she nodded and he continued "Is there any significance behind it? Color, length... style... you humans are all different."

"Humans? Different? And Turians maybe aren't? All these colors, fringes... then there are the markings, too. But again no, it's just... hair. For some cultures there may have once been some meaning behind it, but nothing more specific that I know of."

"Hm." he continued to play with her hair, and she found herself enjoying the feeling more than she should. Leaning in to rest her head on his covered chest she smothered the urge to sigh, close her eyes and enjoy the blissful moment.

And then he pulled on a stray strand, almost making her growl at him.

"In the military we were told that pulling it is quite painful."

"That it is, so if you try something like that again..." she paused for a better effect "... just don't forget that in the Alliance they did teach us about Turian's weak points too."

The answering chuckle made her relax again, the soft rumble sending small shivers down her spine "You don't have to remind me of that, Shepard."

She was sure she didn't. They faced enough Turians in their _Quest To Save All Sapient Life From Utter And Total Destruction_ for them both to make a lasting impression on each other.

Still... she did feel quite comfortable in his arms...

"Commander, you may want to turn around."

- along with the smell and sound of certain something burning and spilling -

...but why did she even think it would last, was beyond her.

"Thanks EDI!" she exclaimed detaching herself from the warm embrace. She turned towards the stove trying her best not to curse or yell at her Turian friend for laughing and at the same time, trying to save her meal.

Or at least what was left of it.

"What is it?" she asked looking up from the disaster that had befallen the kitchen, noticing that Garrus' eyes still didn't leave her.

"Does it smell like this naturally or-"

She lifted a spoon and pointed it at her companion "Finish that sentence, Vakarian, and you'll be tasting it yourself. I'm pretty sure it won't be all that great for you."

"Ah, I hear human cuisine is quite deadly for Turians, so I'd have to decline. But thank you for the offer, _Commander_."

In the end she may not have saved her meal, nor sated her hunger all that well, but there was something about sitting and talking with someone at a god-awful hour of night that made up for the disaster more than enough.

And she was sure, even though she was only beginning to learn Turian expressions, that his was the very equivalent of her own carefree grin.


	5. Chapter 5

_"What? I'm a N7 marine. A highly trained Infiltrator, even." she said, turning slowly. Her brows rose slightly as she looked at her Turian friend who in turn stared at her dubiously - as if the words that just left her mouth weren't universally known facts established further by her continuing service "This is a simple mission. Breaking into Batarian prisons and rescuing random, shady Alliance people? I would say that's the kind of thing I was trained for." she paused, knowing that she needed to play dirty in order to win against the infamous Turian overprotectiveness "Besides, I miss this. That feeling - that excitement that comes with the hunt. Subtlety isn't exactly what we do. Ever." she moved closer, wrapping her arms around him, looking up into his eyes with all the honesty she could muster "I'll be right back before you even start to miss me. Just a quick self-service, please?"_

These were her last words to Garrus when he ambushed her, concerned about her well-being and questioning the sanity of whoever thought her going alone on a mission like this one was a good idea. Ever since Aite she could constantly feel a pair of sharp blue eyes on her back - a pair of eyes that didn't leave their vigil for more than a few minutes when they were out of _Normandy_. She thought naïvely that getting pass that was overprotective feeling was a success. But now, a stealthy rescue (if one didn't count the countless Batarian corpses left on site... well, _kind of_ left, now...), epic fight, mind rape, kidnapping, another fight for life, Harbinger bullshit, successful escape and, of course not to forget, genocide later, she found herself alone in the med bay thinking how there was almost nothing in this God forsaken galaxy that she wouldn't give up for a strong drink right that moment.

She was screwed.

And not in the good way too.

She didn't mind whatever happened to her in the last few days. She was used to being beaten up, used, lied to... all that stuff happened to her before and there was just no use getting worked over inevitable things like these. What was about to do it for her, was the friendly form of the resident Turian stalking back and forth through Deck 3. The friend whom she promised to come back to unharmed.

He was so very adamant not let her go by herself and she screwed it all up - and even if it wasn't entirely by her fault, she still broke a promise.

She had very little time left to prepare a defense for herself, as she was sure the only thing keeping him away from the med-bay was Admiral Hackett (who just left) and the scary ways of Dr Chakwas. Somehow the other woman could be more intimidating than facing a Reaper barefoot, which she proved again when Shepard half dragged herself onto the board. The good doctor had the uncanny ability to make one feel like they were a naughty child and a great disappointment, but Shepard was still glad she brought her some time to think.

She crossed her arms and leaned against one of the examination tables, mentally prep herself for what was to come next - and sure enough, not even a minute has passed since Hackett left that the door opened again revealing her boyfriend.

"Shepard." Garrus' voice seemed strained and his eyes immediately went to her - roaming over her body, looking for any signs of injury.

"Hey," she called, smiling and wondering briefly if using humor would get her anywhere "returning in one piece, as promised."

But all it did was make him shake his head.

"I told you this was a bad idea." he said after a moment of silence, finally entering the med bay and coming to stand before her.

The relief was clear in his eyes and she felt herself relax.

Maybe her worries were for nothing after all.

"Someone had to do it."

"Why does it always have to be _you_? Makes me think you're the only capable soldier the Alliance has."

Or that someone is actively pushing these assignments on her to accomplish a less noble goal, her paranoid mind supplied. She quickly dismissed the thought with a grin.

"Well, putting Commander Shepard on someone's ass is a little more intimidating than getting some random soldier, isn't it?"

"It is," she was awarded with the chuckle she loved so much "I see even crashing an asteroid against a Mass Relay didn't do much to hurt your ego. Or did it get bigger? Oh Spirits, it _did_, didn't it?"

"I don't think that's possible," it was her turn to laugh now "don't think the _Normandy _has enough space to hold even a bit more, too."

"I have to agree." one of Garrus' talons traced the scar on her cheek "How are you holding up?"

"Just a few bruises and a hell of a headache."

"Nothing a good night's rest can't help with, then? Are you clear to leave?"

"Yeah, I got scolded but I'm free to go."

"Then allow your boyfriend to accompany you to your quarters. You more than deserved some peace."

"See, Vakarian, here's where you're wrong," she smirked "You can come with me and I'll show you just how much energy I still have left."


End file.
